Global Electric Vehicle Charger Manufacturer To Build Its First US Plant in Texas

New High-Tech Plant To Help Fuel Wallbox's Expansion in North America for Next Decade

Wallbox, a global manufacturer of electric vehicle chargers, plans to build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Dallas-Fort Worth, the nation's fourth-largest metropolitan area, so the company has enough capacity to support its North American expansion plans over the next decade.

The company plans to make electric vehicle chargers, including fast chargers meant for public charging stations, at the new high-tech plant in Arlington, Texas, totaling 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Show Full Story

Arlington was chosen for the new facility because of it being a central transit hub between the East and West coasts, company officials said. Wallbox did not immediately disclose the address of the Arlington plant or respond to an emailed interview request.

The manufacturing facility, the first of its kind in the United States, will join Wallbox's small network of plants, with two facilities in Europe and one in China. Barcelona-based Wallbox operates in 68 countries.

The Arlington plant is expected to support Wallbox's North American business and capitalize on a market making a big push into the electrification of the automotive industry. In the United States, the Biden administration is aiming for half of all new car sales to be electric vehicles by 2030.

"The U.S. automotive and energy markets are at an inflection point," said Enric Asunción, Wallbox's co-founder and CEO, in a statement. "Automotive electrification will accelerate significantly due to initiatives aimed at meeting aggressive greenhouse gas emission targets, which will significantly increase the demand for our EV charging and energy management solutions."

Douglas Alfaro, Wallbox's general manager of North America, said the new U.S. factory is an important milestone for the company as it expands its local footprint at a time when the nation is making the transition to electric mobility.

The initial production lines of certain Wallbox chargers at the new manufacturing facility are expected to begin as early as June 2022. Other product lines, including its fast charger for public use, are expected to follow in the first half of 2023.

By 2027, Wallbox expects to manufacture 290,000 units annually, with its full capacity of 500,000 units each year being hit by 2030.

Wallbox recently became publicly traded after merging in June with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. II, a special-purpose acquisition company. At the time of the deal, the value of the combined company was $1.5 billion, officials said.

Arlington is also home to a massive General Motors assembly plant, spanning 5.75 million square feet of real estate on 250 acres, where 1,200 vehicles are produced daily. The automaker's recent expansion at the facility is boosting demand for real estate from nearby suppliers and parts manufacturers, according to CoStar's market analytics group.

Electric automaker Rivian is considering the Dallas-Fort Worth region for a new $5 billion manufacturing plant to build up its network in the Lone Star State.